Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Google to Expand European Base in Ireland

Internet search provider Google Inc. announced Tuesday it will expand the workforce at its European headquarters by 600, or 75 percent, over the next two to three years.

The company's Dublin office, established in 2003, supports its European, Middle Eastern and African activities and is Google's largest base outside the United States.

Google credited the high caliber of European university graduates available -- and Ireland's unusually low corporate tax rate -- with influencing its decision.

A recent Google filing with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service said the company had reduced its tax rate from about 39 percent in 2004 to 31 percent through the first nine months of 2005 thanks primarily to its ability to credit profits to its new Irish operations. Ireland's corporate tax rate is 12.5 percent, compared to 35 percent in the United States.

John Herlihy, Google's European director of online sales and operation, said Google had signed a lease to acquire another 100,000 square feet (9,300 square meters) of office space beside its existing Dublin building.